The depicted embodiment of the present invention pertains to a new type of lip balm, cosmetic, and/or personal care product dispenser that overcomes and solves the problems associated with the currently used (prior art) industry standard 0.15 ounce plastic tubular twist-base balm dispenser.
Wayne S. Forrey, the inventor of BALMSHOT®, was diagnosed with lip cancer in 1983 due to sun exposure. After lip reconstruction surgery, he began using lip balm everyday to moisturize and protect his lips. Wayne became dissatisfied with the prior art industry standard 0.15 ounce plastic tubular twist-base balm dispenser because the knurled base would unintentionally twist in his pocket while walking, working, biking, hiking or fishing. As the prior art industry standard lip balm tube twists inside your pocket, the balm itself “worms-out” and mashes into the cap, creating a gooey mess in your clothing.
While tinkering at his garage workbench one Saturday, Wayne envisioned a new type of lip balm dispenser with a tighter fitting cap and smooth turning base. His vision resulted in the present invention. Shotshells loaded with lip balm . . . not buckshot! No more unintentional twisting, no more loose caps, no more gooey mess.
Waxy cosmetic products and lip balm's are uniformly shaped into cylindrical baton shaped sticks and packaged inside an industry standard 0.15 ounce plastic tubular twist-base balm dispenser (prior art). At the top end of the prior art dispenser is a plastic cap, held to the top end of the dispenser by minimal friction. At the bottom end of the prior art dispenser is a knurled disk which can be too-easily rotated to advance or retract the cosmetic or balm product for application by the user.
The configuration of the prior art industry standard 0.15 ounce twist-base balm dispenser that is used for lip balms, cosmetics and personal care products, has two major drawbacks. First of all, the knurled disk base turns and rotates very easy. There is very little friction to prevent the knurled disk from easily rotating in your pants pocket as you walk, work or play. The prior art knurled base can unintentionally twist and rotate while the dispenser is in your pants pocket or purse, thereby advancing and mashing the balm up into the cap, causing the cap to come off and thereby wasting cosmetic or balm and soiling or damaging adjacent items with messy balm.
Secondly, the prior art balm dispenser cap comes off very easy because there is insufficient friction between the tubular body cap flange and the interior of the cap to keep the cap in place. Outdoor enthusiasts have complained for years about flimsy, messy lip balm tubes because of these major drawbacks in the prior art.
In an attempt to solve such problems, some manufacturers have placed their lip balm and/or cosmetic products in small plastic flexible tubes (like toothpaste containers) with a screw-on cap. This approach is much more expensive to manufacture and requires the cosmetic product to have a thin watery consistency in order to flow through the flexible tube and cap opening. Consumers prefer a waxy balm consistency and therefore the prior art industry standard 0.15 ounce twist-base balm dispenser is still in widespread use despite the two limitations of the prior art. It is necessary that a new type of dispenser is needed for lip balms and waxy consistency cosmetic and personal care products, so that these products can be used without unintended de-capping or unintended rotation of the balm advancement/retraction mechanism.